When Just Foreign Policy found out that war-skeptic Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar was going to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, we were delighted. Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee have more say over U.S. foreign policy than other Members of the House. Relatedly, Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee tend to have more pro-war views, on average, than other House Members. Partly that’s because that’s who is motivated to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, partly that’s because powerful interest groups in DC that support more war take a particular interest in who gets to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and partly that’s because the intra-party pecking order in Washington is strongly shaped by who raises the most money, and Members who tend to have more pro-war views tend to easily raise money from pro-war interest groups.
 
This is a key reason it has taken us so much longer than it should have to end unconstitutional U.S. participation in the biblically catastrophic Saudi war in Yemen. And it’s a key reason that we tried to invoke the War Powers Resolution to force a vote on the House floor. Invoking the War Powers Resolution is a way of getting around the House Foreign Affairs Committee, because there’s a key provision in the War Powers Resolution that allows us to go straight to the floor on a resolution to end unauthorized U.S. participation in a war.
 
Now, the same people who blocked us for so long from getting a vote to end U.S. participation in the Saudi war in Yemen are trying to kick Rep. Ilhan Omar off the House Foreign Affairs Committee, using as an excuse the fact that Rep. Ilhan Omar has been a sharp critic of AIPAC and the larger Likud Lobby in Washington of which AIPAC is a central node.
 
Reasonable people can disagree on how hard one should bash AIPAC, and how much focus one should put on this task compared to other important tasks. At Just Foreign Policy, we try to mostly keep our focus on ending the crimes of U.S. foreign policy, rather than on the motivations of the people who continue to support and enable those crimes. 
 
But one thing that all people who want less war should be able to easily agree on is that we want Rep. Ilhan Omar to stay on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to advocate for less war.
 
Tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that you want Rep. Ilhan Omar to stay on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to advocate for less war by signing our petition.